Small incisions are made during laparoscopic surgeries for inserting laparoscopes into abdomens and chest cavities. This is usually followed by small incisions for inserting instruments for grasping, cutting and removing diseased organs and body tissues. The task of removing a diseased body part or diseased tissue through an incision for a laparoscope is difficult because of the limited size of the incision.
During many laparoscopic procedures, an incision is enlarged with a conventional scalpel and/or scissor to facilitate the removal of a diseased organ or tissue. This technique is difficult, time consuming and imprecise. A further drawback is that an assistant is needed to retract the sides of an incision during the enlargement of the incision.
To overcome these drawbacks, a diseased organ or body tissue is sometimes deposited in a laparoscopic bag and forcibly pulled through an incision. The laparoscopic bag is sometimes torn during its forcible removal, causing entrapment and/or rupture of the excised organ as well as spillage inside a body cavity. Spillage may cause infection, cancer or chemical irritation.
Heretofore, special techniques or devices have not been available to facilitate the removal of a diseased organ and tissue during laparoscopic surgery.